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Cruac
Crúac The Ritual Discipline taught by the Circle of the Crone, Crúac is an ancient, malevolent art — described by some opponents of the covenant as a literal infection of Vitae, a thing living within its practitioners. The power summoned by Crúac rites is the power of the Beast itself, paid in blood and forced to taint the world by invoking the primal gods of the Crone. Casting a rite is a fervent, consuming, ecstatic experience, and Acolytes often push the edge of frenzy when they perform their sorcery. Crúac is corrupting, wild, and pagan, degrading everything it touches with the corrosive aura of the Beast. It works its sorcery on flesh, wood, and stone, and is not concerned with the lofty thoughts and intellect of the Man. Learning Crúac Only Acolytes in good standing (Circle of the Crone Status • or more) may learn Crúac or the rites that use it. If an Acolyte ritualist loses all status in the covenant, she may still use and develop the Discipline but not learn any more rites. Some Acolytes take theft of the covenant’s secrets very seriously, and hunt down ex-members who attempt to teach Crúac to outsiders. Ex-Acolytes rarely advertise any talent in Crúac, however, as the All Night Society regards them with a mixture of superstition and apprehension. Bad things happen to Kindred who practice Crúac outside of the Crone’s protection — from simple misfortune to being targeted by the Strix. Stories disagree on whether the “curse of the lone ritualist” can be blamed on the covenant, or perhaps has something to do with the Discipline itself. Crúac and the Strix As a power deeply linked to the Beast, requiring practitioners to reject the Man, Crúac often seems deeply suspicious to those Kindred who know about the Strix in any detail. Even more damning is the fact that some Strix use Crúac rites with a proficiency equal to any Acolyte. Who learned the Discipline from whom, however, is a mystery — and Strix ritualists require Kindred Vitae, not their own shadow-stuff, to feed into their rites (they usually do this by sacrificing a captive vampire). Regardless of who cast the first rite, the Strix regard Crúac as “theirs,” and extract high prices from Acolytes seeking the Owls out to learn rites only they know. Because it rouses, then harnesses the power of the Beast, Crúac use pushes an Acolyte away from humanity. Learning a dot of Crúac is a breaking point for Humanity 4 or higher (see page 107), and simply knowing the Discipline caps Humanity at 10 – Crúac dots. A character may only learn rituals rated equal to or less than his dots in Crúac. Ritualist characters may buy rites and miracles separately from the Ritual Discipline itself for two Experiences each. Every dot of Crúac or Theban Sorcery (including the first) also comes with a “free” rite or miracle, taught by the covenant as part of ongoing training. If a ritualist has lost the status needed to learn new rituals, he can still buy new dots of the Ritual Discipline, but does not receive free rituals. The Sacrifice Crúac rites cost one Vitae per dot of the rite. The first Vitae is spent by the caster as though fueling a Discipline. Any remaining Vitae used must be spilled in the ritual’s casting, and not necessarily by the caster — mortal blood is insufficient until it has been consumed by a vampire and turned into Vitae, but some Acolytes force their students to sacrifice Vitae for especially costly rites, or murder captured Kindred as part of the ritual. Vampire blood spilled during a rite becomes inert, and becomes unsuitable for feeding. Many ritualists go further than these minimum requirements, adding props, assistants, and elaborate performances. These have no mechanical effect, but can play an important psychological role in mustering the ritualist’s Willpower. These effects may return spent willpower at the end of the ritual, but there's no guarentee. The Request Once the sacrifice has been made, the ritualist harnesses the power using her Ritual Discipline. Dice Pool: Manipulation + Occult + Crúac Action: Extended. See the Extended Action rules, on page 170. Ritualists may roll as many times as the unmodified dice pool. The base time per roll is half an hour, reduced to 15 minutes if the character has more dots in the Ritual Discipline than the dot rating of the ritual being cast. A ritual must be completed in one attempt. Ritualists do not receive any bonus for attempting a ritual having already failed with a near miss; rituals automatically fail if interrupted; and ritualists may not use Defense while casting. Many rituals are also Contested or Resisted, as noted in their descriptions. Unless a Merit that modifies extended actions expressly says that it applies to Sorcery, Crúac or Theban Sorcery rolls are not affected by it. The exception is the Library Merit (p. 121), which applies to Theban Sorcery rituals at the Storyteller’s discretion. Roll Results Dramatic Failure: The ritual completely fails, and the sacrifice is wasted. The ritualist gains either the Tempted (for Crúac) or Humbled (Theban Sorcery) Condition. The next ritual attempted by the vampire suffers a –2 dice penalty. Failure: The ritualist is having difficulty, and accumulates no successes. The player decides whether to abandon the ritual entirely or continue. If the ritualist continues, she gains the Stumbled Condition. Success: The ritual accumulates successes. If the target number of successes is met, the ritual’s effect immediately takes place. Exceptional Success: the ritualist makes great strides in achieving the ritual. The player decides which of the following effects takes place in addition to accumulating successes. • Reduce the target number of successes by her dots in the Ritual Discipline. • Reduce the time per roll to 15 minutes (or to 5 minutes if she has more dots in the Discipline than the rating of the ritual). • Apply the Ecstatic (Crúac) or Raptured (Theban Sorcery) Condition if and when the ritual succeeds. If the target number of successes is met, the ritual’s effect immediately takes place. Suggested Modifiers: Modifier Situation +1 to +3 Power is turned on or applies to a vampire with whom the ritualist already has blood sympathy. Crúac doubles this modifier to +2 to +6. 0 The ritualist is unaffected by threats or distractions –1 to –3 The ritualist is rushed or distracted. The penalty is cumulative with multiple distractions. 0 to +3 Crúac Only. The ritualist sacrifices more Vitae than required (bonus equal to excess Vitae spent.) Defending Against Sorcery The subject of a blood ritual does not need to be present for the ritual to take effect, but ritualists are wary when using rituals to target Kindred and other supernatural beings. The victim of an unwanted ritual has a chance to shake it off, and the touch of the ritualist’s vampiric nature exposes her to her intended victim. • Rituals note in their descriptions if they are Contested or Resisted, along with the dice pool involved. Contesting a roll is reflexive. • Via a sensation much like blood sympathy, vampires are always aware when someone uses a blood sorcery ritual on them — their Beasts react to the ritualist’s sorcerous presence from the moment the sacrifice is made until the ritual fails or succeeds. This applies even to vampires in daysleep or torpor, although they can’t do anything about it until they wake. Note that vampires don’t know what a ritual is doing, just that one is taking place. • Conscious victims may spend Willpower to increase the dice pool to Contest by +3, or add a +2 bonus to Resistance. • Frenzying increases a victim’s dice pool or Resistance as though she spent Willpower without requiring the expenditure. • While the ritual is taking place, the victim increases his blood sympathy to the ritualist by two ranks if he is of the same clan, or gains it at “Thrice Removed” if he is of a different clan. Crúac Rites The following rites are examples of those taught by the Circle of the Crone. Pangs of Proserpina (•) Target number of successes: 6 Contested: by Composure + Blood Potency The victim suffers feelings of intense hunger, provoking frenzy in Kindred. The victim may be up to a mile away from the ritual during casting, and is starving for the purposes of the roll to resist frenzy, regardless of how much blood she has consumed. Rigor Mortis (•) Target number of successes: 5 Resisted: by Composure The victim, who must be a vampire within a mile of the ritual, suffers the loss of the reanimating power of Vitae. His next physical action is penalized by a –3 die penalty. Cheval (••) Target number of successes: 5 Resisted: by Composure The subject of this ritual must be present at the casting, being physically touched by the ritualist. For the rest of the night, the ritualist may see and hear what the subject does, no matter how far away she is. The Hydra’s Vitae (••) Target number of successes: 5 The ritualist lays a curse on his own blood, transforming it into poison. Vampires and Strix drinking from the ritualist suffer one point of lethal damage per Vitae taken and gain no nourishment from it. Mortals and ghouls drinking from the ritualist suffer two points of lethal damage. Blood is only venomous as long as it’s in the ritualist’s system, and the effect ends at the next sunrise. Deflection of Wooden Doom (•••) Target number of successes: 6 The ritualist wards himself from having his heart impaled. All attempts to stake the ritualist fail until the next sunrise. Touch of the Morrigan (•••) Target number of successes: 6 The ritualist pours the consuming, tearing force of his Beast into his hands. He may attempt to strike an opponent with his open palm (Touching a Target requires a Dexterity + Brawl roll in combat). The first time he does so, the victim suffers the ritual’s Potency in lethal wounds. The ritual ends when it is first used, or at the next sunrise, whichever is sooner. Blood Price (••••) Target number of successes: 8 Contested by: Composure + Blood Potency The ritualist claims blood consumed by his ritual’s subject. The subject must be a vampire or ghoul present for the casting. Every time the subject drinks blood, Vitae up to and equal to the ritual’s Potency is gained by the ritualist instead of by the subject. If the subject drinks more than the ritual steals, she gains the balance. The effect of the ritual ends at the next sunrise. Willful Vitae (••••) Target number of successes: 7 The ritualist makes herself immune to Vinculum and blood addiction for the remainder of the night. The ritual does not counteract any addiction or Vinculum that the ritualist already has. Blood Blight (••••) Target number of successes: 8 Contested by: Stamina + Blood Potency The ritualist mystically destroys his victim’s blood. Mortal victims suffer the ritual’s Potency in lethal damage. Kindred, Strix, and ghoul victims lose the ritual’s Potency in Vitae. This will usually provoke a frenzy check in Kindred. Feeding the Crone (••••) Target number of successes: 10 The ritualist transforms her fangs into a maw of wicked, flesh-tearing teeth. She gains no Vitae from feeding as long as the ritual remains in effect, but her bite does +2 aggravated damage. The effect of the ritual fades at the next sunrise, or if she uses one Vitae to cancel it early, transforming her features back to normal.